A sad day indeed, terrible that our area had to be one of the first to suffer this fate. I cannot fathom getting my print news from a Baton Rouge entity, as opposed to the local paper. I pray this decision is reversed, but that is quite doubtful…

“Peterson said she, along with Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, and Rep. Helena Moreno, D-New Orleans, added that portion of the amendment in response to constituent concerns about the CVB’s private status.

“Peterson said she will support the bill only in its amended form.

“‘There’s a lot of problems with public records,’ Peterson said. ‘That does not support transparency.’”

Source: Hospitality zone would send public funds to Convention and Visitors Bureau: http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2012/05/hospitality_tax_zone_would_sen.html

On Thursday, May 17th, despite very little notice, representatives of VCPORA, FQC, and FMIA, along with many spirited, concerned citizens from across downtown New Orleans put on now-iconic “Zone Out” stickers and boarded a bus to Baton Rouge to oppose the Hospitality Zone bill (SB 573) in its then most recent form.

Much to our appreciation, Senator Karen Carter Peterson, a member of the Senate Local & Municipal Affairs Committee, offered several amendments to the bill and stated firmly, “If these amendments are tampered with or removed, I’m off (my support of this bill).” She said that she had worked closely on these amendments with Senator JP Morrell and Rep. Helena Moreno, both of whom represent parts of the French Quarter and who attended the committee hearing.

Asked by another member of the committee if the amendments made the bill something we could support, our response was that we needed to review the amendments and get back to our boards, as well as our memberships. Our preference would be to have another community meeting to present these changes to obtain your feedback, but this bill is being rushed through, so there may not be time for that: Please send us your thoughts on these amendments!

Basically the amendments do the following:

- add a 10 year “sunset” provision

- abolish the advisory board (which was dominated by tourism interests)

- remove Faubourg Marigny from the Taxing Zone

- reallocate the new tax revenues in the following manner:

French Quarter Management District – 10%
Multicultural Tourism Network – 10%
New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation – 20%
New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau – 20%
City of New Orleans’ “Hospitality Zone Dedicated Fund” – 40%

- make all receiving agencies and organizations subject to public records requests regarding these funds (but not necessarily for the rest of their operations)

- require that a written report be submitted to city council annually

Senator Ed Murray, author of the bill, told the Senate Committee he would take the bill back and discuss it with “the people in New Orleans.”

While we applaud this courageous move by Senators Peterson and Morrell, and Representative Moreno, you and we must remain vigilant. In fact, there are discussions taking place this weekend about WEAKENING these good amendments. Once again, these meetings occur behind doors closed to the public.

There are only two weeks left in the legislative session this year – so stay engaged! Your emails, phone calls, and presence made a difference! THANK YOU!

Please, continue to communicate with our state legislators. Thank them, but let them know we are still paying attention — and we do NOT want these amendments weakened.

murraye@legis.state.la.us, morrelljp@legis.state.la.us, morenoh@legis.state.la.us, petersonk@legis.state.la.us, legerw@legis.state.la.us, brossettj@legis.la.gov, kgpalmer@nola.gov, shead@nola.gov, jbclarkson@nola.gov, info@vcpora.org

Thank you Judy for any info you have on that point.